I’ve been writing at the Punished Backlog since December 2020, and every year, I’ve done a different “best of” style list. In 2020, I showcased 20 games that helped me survive the pandemic, broken down into four main categories. In 2021, my list was basically just one long essay about Disco Elysium helping me come to terms with grim hope. In 2022, I put on my big girl gaming pants and tried to do a classic top 10 list. When I thought about my GOTY (Game of the Year) for this year, I joked that I should do a Best Video Game Cries list. Then, I doubled down and actually wrote it.
But crying is just one mood! (As we all know, there can be happy cries, devastated cries, angry cries, quiet cries, I-don’t-know-why-but-I-am cries, and more.) And, I don’t know about you, but if I played games just to cry, that’d be pretty depressing.
I played a couple dozen games this year, and they certainly did not all make me cry. To that effect, here’s my top games of 2023, but with the spin of trying to name a new title to fit a variety of very specific gaming moods. I do bow to tradition and include an overall personal GOTY choice at the end.
And, caveat, I say “every mood” because I think it sounds like a good title. Depending on who you ask, human beings either have only four emotions or can have an infinite array, so, you know, take this angle with a grain of salt. I’m just trying to have fun here!
Amanda’s Best Games of 2023
Best Mini Dopamine Hit: Connections
If you haven’t tried the newest New York Times game, what are you even doing? I’ve hated Wordle since it was released, but Connections is my jam. When I nail a category, I feel so smart. When I miss one, I sigh and have to give it up to creator Wyna Liu–ya got me girl!
I love comparing answers with my family, laughing or sharing admiration for how our little colored blocks stack up. Thanks for the daily joy/thought-provoking categories, Wyna.
Best Game to Remind Yourself That You’re Alive: Venba
Venba is a short game with a playtime of around 2-3 hours, but damn, does it make good use of that time. Players join titular character, the immigrant mom Venba, as she cooks meals that remind her of home. The food shares insights on the past and hopes for the future.
I felt a lot of things in Venba: delight, fear, sadness, trust, curiosity, surprise, anger, hope. I often think that human beings look to art to provide clarity, find beauty in, and build understanding of the absolute absurdity we call life. Venba can help you do all those things, and all from a first time developer. If you want more reasons to try it, read my review. It will 100% also make you hungry, which is another classic reminder that you’re alive.
Best Game to Induce Absolute Panic: Alan Wake 2
Why would you want to induce panic? Also to feel that you’re alive, but in a different way! Like a really electric, right-to-the-soul, scream-so-loud-your-dog-comes-running-in-to-check-on-you way! I hate horror of all kinds, but I felt I had to try Alan Wake 2 after Clint’s review.
Every time I put the controller down, I thought, Well, I’ll have to watch the rest on YouTube! I genuinely wasn’t sure I could muster enough courage to finish. When I wasn’t playing Alan Wake 2, I couldn’t stop thinking about it–I just wanted to get back to that great story and shriek while I tried to save the world. The fear made me feel impossibly alive and brave, which was a wonderful feeling, even if I did have to play in the middle of the day with all the lights on.
Best Relaxing Game to Play Instead of Reading: The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood
Reading books has gotten harder for me lately, so I’m appreciative whenever a video game can embrace what’s cool about a novel. Out of all the games I’ve played this year, The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood showcases the most genre evolution I’ve seen so far. It’s cozy without being boring, interactive without being demanding, importance without being urgent. I loved designing my own tarot cards, doing readings, and trying to save my space witch coven from total destruction.
Cosmic Wheel provided an addicting gameplay loop with characters I cared about, and didn’t overstay its welcome. As I said in my review, I look forward to my next playthrough, just like rereading a favorite book.
Best For Irrational Anger: Detective Pikachu Returns
Do you want to be initially delighted and then incredibly frustrated? Do you want to be patronizingly spoken to by a yellow mouse? Do you want to sigh and speed click through puzzles that expect absolutely nothing of you? Do you want to a game mode for kids that will make you giggle in one moment, then roll your eyes in the next? Then boy oh boy, you’ll love Detective Pikachu Returns! It’s a perfect not-a-mystery game for the misanthrope who prefers to live life angry.
Best For Quiet Curiosity: Saltsea Chronicles
Ok I was obviously being facetious with my last entry, so here’s one that’s actually a best-of 2023. I first heard about this indie point-and-click adventure when co-writer Allison scouted the Nintendo eShop earlier this year (and later, her excellent review thereof).
Saltsea Chronicles is a beautiful mystery game from the Danish creators of Mutazione, a gorgeous little creation you may remember for being a flagship Apple Arcade game. In Saltsea, players guide a ship’s crew on a journey to finding their missing captain. You’ll choose who goes on which outing to have the best chance of scouring supplies and clues. They travel to different colorful (literally and figuratively) locales. I found myself delighted wondering what was just around the bend, on that next isle, what would’ve happened if I’d brought misfit radio expert Iris instead of world-traveled diver Stew.
Saltsea Chronicles is one of many games that remind me of a little Dungeons & Dragons campaign without actually being D&D. It’s like drinking green tea–both comforting and stimulating. Oh, that’s the perfect segue into…
Best Late Night Convo Vibes: Coffee Talk 2
I love talking at night. I love arguing about dumb shit in dive bars with Sam. I love getting real AF and sharing feelings. I love sitting outside where the stars can eavesdrop. I love obsessing with a friend on something silly to the point where we do that breathless silent giggle. But sometimes, I don’t have anyone to talk to–and that’s where Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly 2 comes in.
In my review, I share why I enjoyed this beautiful sequel to a lovely game where you make lattes for vampires and stuff like that in a perennially night-time cafe in Seattle. The Coffee Talk games make you feel like a regular.
Best Grindy Game: Dave the Diver
Despite playing over 35 hours of Dave the Diver, I’m actually not sure I like it. I didn’t enjoy the central conceit of killing fish and got bored of late game puzzles, yet clearly there was enough there that made me complete not just the main story, but most side quests. Why?
I think it’s because Dave the Diver is the best game of 2023 for when you need to mentally decompress. Do you know what I mean? Something with a familiar loop that you can enjoy without having to think too hard. It was the perfect game to play during airport layovers, on sleepy evenings, and while taking turns peeling potatoes for Thanksgiving. Unlike the next entry on this list, there’s often the sense that tangible and interesting progression was possible, and that kept me going.
Dave the Diver does have some delights that impressed me like challenging deep sea fishing battles, serving as a mermaid cultural ambassador, nurturing new chefs as a restaurant manager, and feeding a cat. These little sparkles helped me get through a grindy game when, admittedly, I was looking for a grindy game. If you want to hear from someone who loved Dave the Diver, read David’s list.
Best Grilled-Cheese-and-Tomato-Soup Game: Disney Dreamlight Valley
While Disney Dreamlight Valley released in Early Access last year, it officially released just a few weeks ago. I positively reviewed its Early Access release, though the longer I’ve played it, the more frustrated I’ve become with it. Not all character storylines feel equally well-written. You often build cool items for a specific character that then vanish once the quest is over. The problems extend into the meta with a variety of cost controversies that Alexia summarizes well in “The Fast Fashionization of Cozy Games.”
However, I still played 112+ hours of Disney Dreamlight Valley because it’s just so damn comforting. Nothing is that difficult in DDV. Nothing’s shocking. Nothing’s a rush, and nothing’s too far off. Mickey Mouse asks how your day is. Wall-E helps you plant corn. Moana wants to take you fishing. It’s nice. And sometimes life just really sucks, and it’s nice to have something nice.
Best Game to Forget Your Real Life: Baldur’s Gate 3
As of writing, I’ve played about 12 hours of Baldur’s Gate 3 (and, according to Kei, an 80-hour playthrough would be only a fraction). It’s beautiful and exciting so far, but to be honest, I’m pretty overwhelmed. I don’t know how people who don’t have a working knowledge of Dungeons & Dragons would even play this. Players are thrown into the deep end of stats, menus, world conflict, and quests pretty quickly, which is both good and bad.
Earlier this year, I played The Witcher 3 from my backlog. While The Witcher 3 was great, it was sometimes a little too easy for me to mentally check out. I can’t do that with BG3. I can’t sleepily push through Faerûn with its myriad of complicated stat-oriented battles and detailed explorable environments; I have never had to think so much when playing a video game. Though, that makes it all the better for ignoring reality.
Baldur’s Gate 3 demands that players fully immerse themselves. I can already tell it’s going to be a great deep winter game.
I’m also proud of BG3 being one of the best picks on my fantasy gaming league team so weee!!!
Best Game for When You Want to Play a Freaking Video Game: Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
If I had to pick just one-game-to-rule-them-all, I’d say Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is my 2023 GOTY. It’s got it all–fun as hell gameplay, cinematic story, dope vibes, range of engage side quests, satisfying combat, easy menus, speedy fast travel.
These factors add up to Spider-Man 2 being incredibly playable. I know that sounds like a weird way to describe a game, but it felt notable to me that it felt like the game was never trying to fight me as a player. A couple minutes with a Tears of the Kingdom demo and Baldur’s Gate 3 made me immediately aware of how much I don’t know. But Spider-Man 2 welcomes players with open arms.
Someone (Sam K.!) said to me that Spider-Man 2 is the perfect game for busy people, and I agree. No matter how much time you have for a play session, you can find something worthwhile and interesting to do, while also very rarely feeling trapped into boring fetch side quests (which is a miracle in this day-and-age).
I’m also impressed by how the game handles its protagonists. The option to switch (most of the time) freely between Peter Parker and Miles Morales works much better than switching between Alan Wake and Saga Anderson in Alan Wake 2. Peter and Miles have access to a few different specific side quests, but the overall gameplay of their segments is the same. This enables players to spend more time with the Spidey they feel closest to.
One of the best details of Spider-Man 2 is how Peter and Miles can run into each other when they’re out in the city fighting baddies. They greet each other while web-slinging thieves. They help each other slow down an armored car heist. When it’s all over, they hug or make jokes. These simple moments made that love and partnership come alive, and made me feel like I was part of it. It’s not the only powerful relationship; Anthony wrote a very touching piece on the friendship between Peter and Harry Osborne.
The story of Spider-Man 2 is some of the strongest I’ve seen in a AAA game in a while; it made me cry no less than three times. (Is it mind-meltingly original? No, but I’m not sure it has to be.) The movement of swinging through New York City is superhero-simulating perfect. Insomniac has honed the combat over previous series releases, Spider-Man (2018) and Miles Morales (2020). The fighting is a classic joy of combo button mashing. The graphics are gorgeous. The music is excellent.
To me, Spider-Man 2 is a great “classic” video game, improving on all the standard elements, like Michael Bublé singing jazz standards. All to say… they’re both smooth AF.
Gaming Moods for 2024?
It looks like it’ll be a relatively quieter year ahead in terms of big game releases, which is great, because, as I confessed in Episode 3 of the Punished Podcast, I have amassed a decent gaming backlog including a $5 copy of Cyberpunk 2077 (yes, the game I wrote my inaugural Punished Backlog tirade about). In terms of new releases, I’ve got my fingers crossed for Star Wars Outlaws.
At the end of the day, I guess my gaming trends for 2024 will also be predicted by how I’m feeling. I love trying to find just the right game for me or for someone else. For the past year or so, I’ve had a few friends who will text me when they have a specific mood/niche/vibe they want to hit with gaming (hi Mackey and Allison D.!) and I enjoy sending them suggestions. Gaming is an amazing hobby that can bring us joy, catharsis, and adventures.
As for what resonated with me in 2023, I want to close out by taking a moment to include a paragraph from my Best Video Game Cries of 2023 conclusion:
It makes sense that Spider-Man 2 appears on this list a lot, for me–the story makes it clear that we cannot insist that we are fine when we’re not, that it’s okay to lean on others, and that our communities are what give us strength. I’m grateful for new friends I’ve made and enriching communities I already have, including here at The Punished Backlog. This year, we’ve gotten a lot of new contributors and it’s been a joy to work with them. (You can read about how to join us here!) I am especially appreciative of my fellow editors here, David Silbert and Sam Martinelli, who have been incredible colleagues, editors, and friends. I’ve so enjoyed growing with this site over the past few years. Love y’all.
